US just being climate change 'moron'

Canada and New Zealand doing more on climate change

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Feature story - 10 December, 2002

Canada and New Zealand are doing more to combat climate change by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol this week putting the global agreement to cut greenhouse gases one step closer to reality. But the US and Australian governments are proving they are just morons by refusing to ratify the international treaty they signed five years ago.

The Canadian government finally came to its senses after five
yearstrying to weaken the Kyoto Protocol. Canada now recognises
thatratification is of benefit to industrialised nations.

With Canada to the north, Mexico to the south, and 97
othercountries around the world having ratified the Kyoto Protocol,
the USis surrounded, outnumbered and out of step with international
action onclimate change.

But Australia is still blindly following the US lead and will
becomeequally isolated with New Zealand and most of its other Asia
Pacifictrading partners having already ratified the agreement.

Australian businesses, like their US counterparts, will be cut
out of the opportunities that joining the Protocol would
provide.

With New Zealand and Canada ratifying the agreement, it will
becomeinternationally binding law as soon as Russia ratifies - a
moveexpected to come in 2003.

The Kyoto Protocol will become law when a minimum of 55
countrieshave ratified the agreement covering at least 55 percent
of 1990 levelgreenhouse emissions from industrialised countries.
New Zealand andCanada's ratification brings the total to 99
countries, covering 40.9percent of greenhouse

emissions.

This is a great move by New Zealand and Canada, but these
countriesmust adopt implementation plans that are not too lenient
on industrialpolluters.

The Kyoto Protocol is only the first step. We have to begin
reducinggreenhouse gas emissions immediately, and implement even
deeper cuts asrapidly as possible if we are to prevent dangerous
climate change.

Note: Google reports almost
1500occurences of the phrase "Bush is a moron" on the internet. The
mostrecent high-profile utterance of the phrase was by a top aide
toCanadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. The aide was under
pressure fromthe US to resign, presumably for saying aloud what
everyone else wasthinking.